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Month: June 2017

Over on io9, we posted a map of all the weirdest sex laws in the U.S.A. We didn’t have room for every weird sex law we found, and some of them we had to shorten a bit to make them fit. So here’s the complete, unedited list of sex laws!

Is your sex life against the law? Better make sure. We’ve painstakingly compiled a map of all…

Alabama

Incestuous marriages are legal.

Alaska

Moose are banned from having sex on city streets (in Fairbanks).

Arizona

You may not have more than two dildos in the same house.

Arkansas

Flirtation and “lascivious banter” between men and women on the streets may result in a 30-day jailterm. (in Little Rock.)

Keeping a house where unmarried persons are allowed to have sex is prohibited.

Florida

Married couples (as well as singles) cannot engage in open “lewdness or lascivious behavior”

Georgia

The term “sadomasochistic abuse” is defined so broadly, that it could possibly be applied to a person handcuffing another in a clown suit.

All sex toys are banned.

Illinois

If you sell a reptile, you must give a written warning not to “nuzzle or kiss” them.

It’s prohibited by law to “suffer any bitch or slut” (referring to dogs) (in Minooka.)

Indiana

It is illegal for a man to be sexually aroused in public.

Iowa

Kisses may last for no more than five minutes.

Kansas

Illegal “sodomy” includes oral sex, but anal penetration with a finger is allowed under specified circumstances.

Kentucky

Dogs must not molest property or people.

Until 1975, people wearing bathing suits on any city street were required have a police escort.

Louisiana

Necrophilia is legal.

It’s illegal to use fortune-telling, astrology or palmistry to “settle lovers quarrels.” (In New Orleans.)

Massachusetts

Making noise in a public library is a crime against “chastity, morality, decency and good order.”

Michigan

A man who seduces or corrupts an unmarried woman faces five years in prison.

Low-riding pants that expose underwear are a Class B offense. But if they expose butt cleavage, they’re a Class A offense. (In Flint.)

Mississippi

It’s illegal to teach others what polygamy is.

Adultery or premarital sex results in a fine of $500 or 6 months in prison.

Montana

Prostitution is a “crime against the family.”

Nebraska

You can’t get married if you have gonorrhea

Nevada

Sale of sex toys is illegal.

New Hampshire

Lingerie must not be hung on a clothesline at the airport, unless there’s a screen concealing it. (In Kidderville.)

New Jersey

Flirting is illegal. (In Haddon Township, NJ)

New Mexico

Nudity is allowed as long as genitals and female nipples are covered.

New York

Adultery is illegal.

North Carolina

Adultery is illegal. And so is pretending to be married in order to share a hotel room.

North Dakota

It was illegal to swim naked in the Red River between 8 AM and 8 PM. (In Fargo.)

It’s against the law to fail to confine a dog or cat in heat. (In Grand Forks.)

Ohio

No person shall solicit sex from another of the same gender if it offends the second person.

Oklahoma

It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to engage in “acts, or simulated acts, of sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, or any sexual acts which are otherwise prohibited by law.” So, no simulated intercourse or animal sex.

Oregon

It’s illegal to lie down in a public restroom, or for two people to share a stall meant for one.

Pennsylvania

Oral and anal sex are illegal. You cannot cohabit with an “ancestor or descendant.”

South Carolina

If a man promises to marry a woman and she sleeps with him, the marriage must take place.

South Dakota

Public erections are illegal.

Tennessee

Students may not hold hands in school.

Texas

It’s illegal to own more than six dildos.

Utah

It’s illegal to marry your first cousin before the age of 65 — or 55 if you can prove both parties are infertile.

Summary:The timing of a girl’s first menstruation may affect her first sexual encounter, first pregnancy, and her vulnerability to some sexually transmitted infections. These patterns of sexual and reproductive health outcomes for girls in low- and middle-income countries who menstruated at an early age are similar to what has been observed in high-income countries such as the U.S. Until now, there was little known about associations between early menarche and sexual and reproductive health outcomes in less advanced economies.

FULL STORY

The timing of a girl’s first menstruation may affect her first sexual encounter, first pregnancy, and her vulnerability to some sexually transmitted infections, according to a meta-analysis by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. These patterns of sexual and reproductive health outcomes for girls in low- and middle-income countries who menstruated at an early age are similar to what has been observed in high-income countries such as the U.S. Until now, there was little known about associations between early menarche and sexual and reproductive health outcomes in less advanced economies. The results are published online in the journal PLOS ONE.

“Menstruation marks the beginning of a girl’s reproductive life and is an important indicator of girls’ physical, nutritional, and reproductive health, yet it is often overlooked in public health,” said Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, and senior author. In high-income countries, early menarche is defined as before the age of 12.

The Columbia researchers used data from peer-reviewed studies and health and social sciences databases to assess the link between menarche and various negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in adolescence. These included early sexual debut, experiences of sexual advances from older men, early pregnancy and childbirth, sexual risk taking, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The researchers also studied the link between age at menarche and early marriage. Two of the studies were conducted in Malawi; the others were conducted in South Africa, Nepal, Jamaica, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, and Bangladesh.

Overall, an earlier age at menstruation was associated with an earlier age of sexual initiation, age at pregnancy, and first live birth.

A sample of Jamaican women who menstruated early was 28 percent more likely to engage in sexual intercourse before the age of 16. In rural Malawi, 55 percent of those who had their first period before age 14 had sex before the age of 16, compared with 27 percent of those with menarche at age 14 to 15, and only 4 percent of those with menarche at age 16 or older. Few girls engaged in sexual intercourse before they began menstruation.

Girls who experienced menarche at an earlier age were also more likely to get married at a young age. In India, for example, one study suggested that for each year menarche was delayed, the age of marriage increased by nine months.

“Despite possible similarities in the relationship between early menarche and sexual and reproductive health in low-, middle- and high-income countries, the factors associated with early menarche and early marriage may differ across ethnic groups within the same country,” noted Mobolaji Ibitoye, MPH, DrPH candidate in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School and lead author. “This highlights the need for a greater understanding of the cultural and regional variations in the effect of age at menarche on age at marriage both within and between countries.”

Studies from several high-income countries have shown that early menarche is also associated with various psychosocial factors including delinquency, substance use, and depression — all of which have sexual and reproductive health implications.

“Although our analysis did not examine these patterns, there is a critical need to assess if similar associations exist in low-and middle-income countries,” said Dr. Sommer. “Ultimately this reinforces the importance of including age of menarche in many more studies.”